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Those who follow gaming news already know that Steve Ballmer unleashed a maelstrom of a controversy Thursday when he reportedly let slip some comments suggesting that Microsoft was going to release a new Xbox 360 console in 2010.

“The new device will be equipped with technology that is ‘really, really close’ to an actuality. The console, which was described as having a ‘natural interface,’ will have a built-in camera with the ability to recognize movement and voice.”

Much to the delight of gamers around the world, word of a new Xbox 360 landing as early as 2010 spread like wildfire. Unfortunately, this is one rumor that is quickly turning out to be false. Microsoft and its team of spokespeople are now working overtime to retract and revise what was revealed through Ballmer’s loosely interpreted comments. According to Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, the current Xbox 360 is not even halfway through its life cycle and will remain the company’s primary entertainment and gaming platform well into the next decade. He further adds that the new motion control platform, Project Natal, will be an integral component of the current Xbox 360 when it launches at an unspecified date in the future.

Just a few days before Sony’s upcoming E3 press conference, the company’s next generation handheld gaming device, the PSP Go, has been given some unofficial specifications, starred in a hands-on preview video courtesy of Qore and previewed in some leaked press photos. The upcoming PSP Go will be a UMD-less slider that features the following specs:

3.8-inch display of unknown resolution

43 percent lighter than the current PSP-3000

16GB of flash memory

Integrated Bluetooth with mobile phone tethering and BT headset support

Memory Stick Micro slot

New Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet and Metal Gear Solid games

Full PlayStation Network support (TV and movie rentals/purchases) and integration with the PlayStation 3

The PSP Go is expected to be available this fall and will be sold alongside the current PSP-3000. Hit the jump for some more close-ups of this Mylo 2 look alike along with the Qore video.

This past week, Microsoft announced a major milestone for its Xbox 360 console. According to Redmond, the 360 has officially surpassed the 30 million sales mark. For comparison sake, Sony’s PlayStation 3 has sold around 21.3 million units and Nintendo has pushed out about 50.4 million Wii consoles. Both the Wii and PS3 were released in 2006 whereas the Xbox 360 was launched in November of 2005.

Beyond hitting 30.2 million consoles sold, Microsoft has also added approximately 3 million Xbox Live subscriptions since January, rounding out the Live community at around 20 million active members. Other notes:

$14.5 billion — The amount of revenue Xbox 360 has generated in the US since its release.

$5.9 billion — The amount of revenue Xbox 360 has generated for third-party publishers since its release.

We’ve long since given up on Blockbuster and the debacle that is Total Access. As the company continues to struggle with the evolving home entertainment industry, Blockbuster repeatedly reminds us all that it just doesn’t get it. That won’t stop it from trying though. According to the Wall Street Journal, Blockbuster will finally begin piloting the addition of video games to its through-the-mail movie rental service sometime in June — the goal will still be to launch the service nationally in 2H of this year. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings of video games being added to the pot but apparently it took a bit longer than expected to get the pilot rolling. Still no word on how video game packages will be priced or whether the half-price in-store game rentals will indeed be part of the offer, but to be honest we don’t really care. The Blockbuster ship has already sailed as far as we’re concerned.

While these photos most certainly have not been authenticated at this point, we may be looking at the first images of Sony’s upcoming PS3 Slim. The company still denies the Slim’s existence, but it looks like an assembly worker may have risked life and limb to put the truth in the hands of the people. That truth, unfortunately, is apparently the fact that Sony can’t figure out how to resurrect its market presence so it’s resorting to a snazzy hardware redesign in an attempt to catch more eyes… And wallets. As Kotaku points out however, the logo shown on the console in these images is most definitely not the current PS3 logo. Sure, Sony could have changed it, but beyond the logo the console as a whole looks, well, cheap. If we step back for a moment though, could it be that Sony has listened to the cries demanding a price drop on the PS3? It has been said time and time again that the expense of building a PS3 console simply doesn’t allow for a lower price. Perhaps, just perhaps, Sony has found another way to hit lower price brackets. As barely any information is available at this point, we won’t be expecting any sort of confirmation from E3. Hit the jump for more shots.

Teamxbox has let loose with a slew of details on the rumored Zune HD, some of which they have reportedly been sitting on since last August. According to their sources, the ZuneHD will be a convergent device, incorporating some of the gaming features of the Xbox and the multimedia features of the Zune. Codenamed xYz to highlight its position between the Xbox and the Zune, the new device is rumored to have a large WVGA touchscreen display and Ã¢â‚¬Å“hardware features not found on any handheld on the market.Ã¢â‚¬Â The Zune HD will most definitely not be a phone and will not directly compete with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile offerings, it has been said. The portable entertainment device will supposedly feature the graphical user interface of the New Xbox Experience and will be a “Live Anywhere” device, integrating the online services offered by Microsoft Live, Xbox, Zune and the recently announced Sky marketplace. Interestingly enough, teamxbox claim that their sources on the ZuneHD hardware coincide with the recently leaked “chassis 1″ specification which include an ARM 6+ processor, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (can we say Nvidia Tegra), 256MB plus of RAM, min of 1GB internal memory, 3.5Ã¢â‚¬Â³+ WVGA or FWVGA touchscreen display with multi-touch, aGPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and more. If this conglomerate of recent rumors hold true, then the ZuneHD may turn the PMP world upside down if and when it launches.

Power Leveling is the term used to describe the process of quickly rising through the levels in World of Warcraft. There are now 80 levels that can be reached (there were 70 until Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack was released). Reaching these high levels is very tough however, some players take years, other can do it in months, and some people who use power leveling techniques can achieve the ultimate level in less than a couple of weeks.

If you want to quickly move up through the levels but don’t want to pay for an expensive power leveling service, you can always have a crack at power leveling yourself. Numerous guides have been written about power leveling, and I have used many myself, in this WoW Power Leveling Guide I will share some tips and tricks.

Play with Higher Leveled Players

You get a massive benefit through playing with other higher ranked players because you can earn far more experience points through having battles with monsters you would not usually be able to fight. Your experience will quickly add up and you level will rise.

Use Grinding to Level Up

Some players hate grinding away, they find it tedious and boring. The fact of the matter is however, that if you have the patience to grind away at mobs of monsters you will gain valuable experience points and your level will go up. This is one way you can level very quickly, but as I mentioned, you will need to be patient and tolerate the tediousness that some people find comes with grinding.

The Questing Method

Another popular technique to move through the levels quickly is questing. This is my preferred method of power leveling because its fun and you can gain a lot of XP points in a short space of time. It’s also effective to mix grinding into your questing to reap even more XP points.

If a quest is taking you a long time to complete, consider abandoning it by clicking the Abandon button which is in the quest log. Don’t bother wasting your time with slow quests when power leveling.

If you want to power level through to level 70 or 80 in the fastest way possible, you might want to consider using a WoW Leveling Guide. A range of these are on the market, some are better than others. Quality guides come complete with a range of tools including in game addons which take all the guessing out of power leveling.

About the Author:

Seth Symonds is a WoW veteran with over 4 years of game experience. Find out how Seth gets to Level 80 in under 6 days using the Ultimate WoW Guide. For more information about WoW including a heap of tips and tricks, read Seth’s WoW Power Leveling Guide.

Nintendo’s got it, Sony should have it soon enough and now Microsoft is apparently getting ready to unveil its take on motion-controlled gaming. Unlike Nintendo and Sony’s solutions however, Microsoft looks to be taking an entirely different approach to the concept by removing a physical remote from the equation and using the actual gamer as the controller — at least where motion is concerned. The solution reportedly entails a sensor bar that observes gamer movement and uses it to control compatible games. You move, it moves. You kick, it kicks. You trip over your coffee table and bust your face, it… Well, we’re not sure what happens then. The bottom line is that this could very well be a tremendous leap where motion-controlled home gaming is concerned and from the sound of it, it could definitely eclipse Sony’s solution which sounds more like catch up than anything else. In both cases however, motion control will definitely be a nice value-add for PS3 and Xbox 360 owners. We just hope Sony and Microsoft aren’t viewing these solutions as game changers — especially where sales are concerned. Sure, the Wiimote might not be as unique once these new products hit the market but its just once piece of the equation as far as Wii appeal goes. Remember, the Wii isn’t stealing the market from Sony and Microsoft. It’s creating an entirely new and much broader market.

Tired of your bush league Wii-owning friends making fun of the lame Sixaxis motion-sensing technology in your PS3 controller? Hang in there as you may not have to endure their ridicule for much longer. The Cut Scene is reporting that Sony is planning to unveil a new and improved motion-sensing controller that will supposedly wipe the floor with the Wii remote. According to several sources, the new controller, as described in Sony patent applications, will utilize LEDs and a small camera to track the user’s movements. The remote will be able to read different color lights and detect the shape and angle of each light — making it much more accurate than the Wii remote. The new PS3 remote will also be able to track movement along the Z-axis (forward and backward) and measure velocity. A new remote is useless without supporting game titles of course, and Sony is reportedly reaching out to developers to enable motion control in future games. If this rumor pans out, the new PS3 remote system will make its debut as early as E3 2009 which runs from June 2-4.

Yes. Performance Designed Products has just unveiled the Wii accessory every Wii user has been waiting for — even if he or she didn’t know it. That’s right people, say hello to the Energizer Induction Charging System for Wii. PDP’s Energizer-branded line of accessories packs a few gems but none as sweet as this new Wiimote charging dock, which makes use of wireless induction charging technology to facilitate contact-free charging of Wiimotes. Badass. Users won’t even have to remove the protective sleeves or wrist straps from their Wiimotes; just plop that sucker on the charging dock and let induction do its thing. The dock can also be laid flat so Wii MotionPlus users won’t even have to disconnect the adapters to juice up their controllers. Fantastic. The Energizer Induction Charging System for Wii is slated to hit stores next month for $49.99 — a bargain at twice the price.